Preparing for a semester around the world

The last couple of days I have been ravenously reading my friends' blogs who are on semester at sea right this second and are days away from completing their voyage. I'm gathering tips from friends on anything and everything and getting all sorts of emotions. I can't believe in just barely over a month, I will be leaving for the Bahamas, then onto a trip around the world. It's insane! This semester has gone by in a flash, just like last semester did. The slower I want it to go, the faster it goes. I'm having a hard time letting go of my life here, but day by day I am getting more and more excited to go on my adventure. I know it will change my life, and that I will come back a better person. It's like freshman year all over again. Everyone going on SAS from all over the country is on the facebook group, adding each other on facebook, planning meet and greets. I look at their faces and wonder, just like I did the summer before freshman year, which of these people will be my friends, and how will I meet them? I know it will all happen so easily, I have no worries I will find a great group of people to hang out with. Not to mention I already have some great friends going with me! My roommate is going to be Caroline, one of my FAVORITE people in my sorority. Two other girls from my sorority, Alicia and Hannah, are also going. Hannah and Caroline are besties, and the three of us hang out a lot, and this will hopefully be a chance for me to get to know Alicia a lot better. Another girl who used to be my best friend in AXO, Alexis, is going too! She transferred to Oregon U last year, but now we will be reunited! In an even funnier twist of fate, Melissa's roommate from last year at UMass is going too! Her name is Taylor and her and I are very excited to meet and hang out, while Mel is jealous haha. Small world!

This week we had our pre-departure meeting at school. There are about 17 of us going from USD, as compared to the 45 that go in the fall. There will be 740 students aboard this semester. We also found out this week that our trip itinerary has changed! NOW WE ARE GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA!!! I am beyond excited, because I was sincerely disappointed when my voyage wasn't headed there. So I couldn't be happier, really. 

I'm counting down the days already and really really freaking out, but trying to remind myself that San Diego will always be here, but a trip around the world with some of my best friends definitely won't be. I just need to calm down and enjoy it.

Bahamas.... one month and counting. 

ONE WEEK LEFT!!!

I absolutely cannot believe how time has gone. Here I am on my last Monday at school. I spent the last week in Lake Powell in the states con la familia, so I have sorta checked out of Mexico. But I am definitely going to make the best of my last week here. Saturday Erin and I went out to dinne rwith our parents. Yesterday they took us to see la barranca, a beautiful national park full of lush rainforest and three rushing waterfalls. I slept SOOOO MUCH once I got home. It felt so good to sleep. Today I am going to el mercado con mi hermano, tomorrow to licha libre, which is wrestling, con mis maestros, and the rest of the nights I will be partying it up to celebrate the end of our adventures. Oh and studying for my final on friday. Then I´m HOME HOME HOME on Saturday! I am excited to be back with my family and back in the states.
So let me update about Guanajuato. It was absolutely my favorite place to visit since I have been here in Mexico. The bus ride was about four hours and you can instantly tell once you are there. All of the houses are brightly colored! Pinks blues yellows greens oranges. All the little houses are nestled closely against one another amongst the rolling hills. It is very colonial, and though it is a tourist attraction, it is a real city. My favorite part was visiting all of the Mexican businesses, especially restaurants. I had the best pizza of my entire life at this little place right by our hotel. We stayed in hotel San Diego, ironic? I roomed with Erin, Kate, and Jaclyn, and we just had a blast. The first night we got there, Thursday, we went to this salsa place that was an absolute hole in the wall. There were all 150 of us... and like four locals. It was great, my favorite teacher, Aguilar, was there dancing it up with all of us. Jaguar style. He's crazy. He always leads the tours and throws up his hands like claws and makes jaguar sounds, to indicate we shoudl follow him. Love him.
Friday we did a whole bunch of toury things. We toured the city, the mummy museum, the mines, some shops, and Diego rivera's house. The mummy museum was crazy. Something in the soil in Guanajuato makes mummies out of carcasses in only five years. There were a lot of little baby mummies. And one pregnant mother and fetus. The mine was cool too. We all donned hard hats and climbed on down. Everywhere we go there are gorgeous churches. The sky in Guanajuato seemed SO HUGE!!! After our tours we settled into this little place for lunch ON TOP OF THE CITY!!! It was amazing. You could see everything. The sun was beaming. I had great company. The beers were 8 for $6 haha. Couldn't really ask for anything better. We ate there and then trekked down to our hotel, napped, and went out. I was pretty tired so I only stayed at the packed club for about an hour. I was in by midnight, a very early night indeed. Oh but before we did that we did this amazing thing with the entire group where we followed a traveling mariachi band through the streets, singing along with them. It was fantastic. They made the boys stand to one side while they serendaded the women. Then we went to a famous kissing step. you have to kiss on it or you get very bad luck. I kissed a couple of my guy friends and Aguilar on the cheek haha. Made me miss Anthony a little bit, though.
Saturday we headed to San Miguel de Allende, another town where many US citizens retire. The town was obviously very rich. It was the most American-looking place we have been so far, and I didn't really like that. We had a little tour then were free to look through the town. The shops were incredibly expensive, with clothing for $80 and up. I was like, take me back to TJ!! Haha. It was just obviously VERY touristy. The church was, however, very beautiful. The ice cream was delicious. The restaurant we all went to was first class all the way. And I got to see a partial mural by Siqueiros which was cool because I always wonder how the hell they begin those gigantic projects. Overall, though, I would have rather spent the day in Guanajuato. We ate again at the same beautiful spot once we got back, then sleep, then clubbing again. This night I was just not feeling it. This guy from the USD group was a total jerk to me for no reason, I don't even know him. He was just drunk but it put a damper on the night. So instead me and my girls went and got 4 am pizza. perfect.
The next day we took a little walking tour of the city, El Teatro Juarez, a bar where there is a built in peeing fountain, etc. We went to the mercado there, huge indoor market, and shopped a little, then hopped on the bus and headed home. I fell in love with Guanajuato and really wish my family could have met me out there. Maybe next year.
Then of course I had a normal week of school, going out, writing two papers, taking a midterm. bla bla. I went to a kiddie amusement park with Jaclyn and my rich local friend Pepe one day and that was fun. And on Friday we all went wakeboarding at Lake Chapala. BEAUTIFUL! It looks just like Costa Rica in Jurassic Park. The water was so so so warm. It was so fun. There is nothing I love more than being on a boat on the water. But that whole day all I could think about was how my friends and family were all together and I wasn't with them!
Needless to say, Powell was a blast as always, despite some mishaps. I am excited for my last week here, and excited to be home. :)

week three!

time is completely flying by here. it is ridiculous. i can't believe i am halfway done!! Well i'll do a quick update before i take off for guanajuato.
This weekend was Puerto Vallarta! Not exactly a cultural trip but I knew it was going to be a blast. After a five hour bus ride we arrived at our five star hotel! It was really beautiful. A whole bunch of little casitas. Private pools. The beach ten steps away. Thursday night we all just kind of stayed in and I made the tragic mistake of sitting outside for three hours at night in a dress. I was SAVAGED by mosquitos. I got over 200 bites, most on my lower legs. So obviously that was unpleasant when I woke up the next morning and realized what had happened. I have always reacted badly to bites so I was worried but I was able to enjoy a full day of fun poolside on Friday. we were out there in our suits all day. I got a wonderful tan and we were all very pleasantly drunk and annoying the old people that were there. Friday was a hilarious day. tons of swimming, hanging with friends, some people went jet skiing or banana boating. At night we went downtown to the street with all the clubs on it. We went to this club called Zoo and by this time my bites were really starting to bug me. I hadn't itched too much that day, but once I drank that night I just itched away... with dire consequences. When I got home and looked at my legs I realized they were completely covered in blisters. I still don't even understand how that happened, but it was so. I soaked my legs in the tub for awhile then just went to bed. The next morning when I woke up there was definitely no improvement. It was disgusting. I looked like I had leprosy and the blisters were huge. So that day I spent the day in jeans and itching cream. But I didn't let it stop my fun.
Instead of hanging by the pool I met up with my FILTHY rich local friends and went on their SEVENTY FOOT YACHT!!! It was ridiculous. It was a few of us USD girls and a ton of high society Mexicans. They pay for everything for the group of girls they hang out with most, even their weekend trips, and let them stay in their beautiful homes in all these locations! It was so beautiful, I mean when they said yacht I figured something small. This is a yacht for beyond millionaires. The guys are fun and it is cool to hang outwith locals, not to mention live the foreign rich life. This one guy Pepe had his private jet flown in so he could fly home. Ha!
After we got off the boat we got ready to go out that night. I kept jeans on and we headed over to this club Christine. It was my favorite club so far. The set up was great. Open bar, circular terraces and a dancefloor in the center that occasionally had cool air burst down and confetti and great lighting. It was a really chill atmosphere and I really enjoyed it. We danced all night and finally went home. Open bar is never a good thing for college kids though and several people got hurt that night. One guy fell down the stairs, one girl tore a ligament, and one girl fell through the glass at the club! I don't even know how that happened. everyone is okay though. That night I stayed up till five talking with friends, and after ordering DELICIOUS pizza at 230 in the morning. It was a swell night.
The next day we basically packed up and left. But when I woke up... my foot was swollen to doubel its size!!! Now I was getting kind of nervous. I went straight to the hospital as soon as I got back to Guad and he just gave me Allegra. Yesterday was the first day that the swelling was finally all gone, thank god. but i still look somewhat like a leper. Not cute.
I will write more when I get back from Guanajuato! Love you all!

the adventure continues

Ok so I have a ton to update about. I will try to hit up the high points.

Last week was my first full week of school, which is really only four days, and Thursdays are shortened. Sweet. I am now basically two thirds of the way done with my religion class, which feels pretty good. And I currently have around a 98% haha. The "crazy Nazi german woman", haha Chris, is actually pretty amazing. She's just like a feisty grandma. German grandma. German being the key word. She loves the Germanic peoples, yes she does. But the class is actually interesting and includes philosophy to discuss the existence of God and proofs for the existence of God. Right now we are on atheism. Today there was an argument presented where a philosopher looked at believing in God like gambling: if you do believe in God, and there is an afterlife, then you win! If you do believe in God, and there isn't an afterlife, then you lose nothing. Interesting, but not quite the way I would like to look at my choice of religion. My other class is a class on the three main Mexican muralists who painted during the Mexican revolution. I love art so I am loving it. My teacher is a renowned Mexican archaeological scholar from Guadalajara. He teaches at Cal State Los Angeles and has written 25 books and is on the history channel all the time. He is a baller. I've gone on a bunch of tours with him now and he always calls our group the Jaguars, then holds up his hand like a claw and growls. Yeah.

So enough about school. On Tuesday we went to this fun club/bar called Wall Street and had a great time. It is very easy to make new friends here. We just dance all night, come home, and wake up for school three hours later. Haha that is the life. It is a pretty grueling schedule though. We take a LOT of siestas, anywhere we can, anytime we can. On the bus there and back home. As soon as we get home. We strip into pajamas and go right to sleep. Then wake up and eat. And repeat! Ahhhhhhh.

So on Thursday we left for Mexico City. The bus ride was 8 hours long and I slept/tried to sleep for most of it. We finally got into the city at night time. It is the second biggest city in the world with 27 million people! I can't even comprehend that. Five minutes from the hotel something kinda scary happened. The bus stopped at a light and a whole bunch of young boys came out of this store and descended on our bus. They all started reaching in their pockets as if reaching for guns. Then they started throwing rocks and bottles at all of our windows and yelling at us. I just ducked down because if a bottle was going to come through the window I didn't want it hitting me in the face. But we drove away and got safely to our hotel. Another scary thing happened to girls in our Guad group as well. They were coming home from a night clubbing in Guad, in a taxi, and two cars came up on them on either side and chased them with guns for 45 minutes. The girls were really really shaken up, which is totally understandable. One might be leaving soon. But those kind of things can happen anywhere.

Anyways back to Mexico City. So right before we left I found out they had me signed up to room with a boy named Justin. HAHA. So I was like SWEET! No I'm kidding I had them change it right away. So we get to the hotel and it is GORGEOUS. One of the nicest I've ever seen. It's a five star. I got to my room to find a note from my GIRL roommate named Lee saying she was already out with her friends. Cool. But rather than seeing her later that night... she never came. The entire weekend. So I had my own room! Which I didn't mind at all. Perfectly fine with me.  

So we did a ton of traveling and walking in Mexico DF, but the high points were definitely the pyramids and the Basilica de Guadalupe.  The pyramids were very impressive and it was amazing to learn about Aztec culture. We climbed both the sun and moon pyramids and walked about 8 miles that day. I think the next day we went to the Basilica de Guadalupe which was beautiful as well. The church was built after a sighting of the Virgin Mary. The story goes that her image was miraculously painted onto a coat, and the coat still hangs in the basilica today. The buildings were beautiful. All the while though the underlying theme was hegemony. The Aztec and Mayan and other indigenous cultures were forced to accept the views of various cultures that came to conquer them, including the Spanish, French and Americans.  There was a very interesting sculpture in the gardens of the basilica that showed a lot of Aztec peoples worshipping the Virgin Mary.  Apparently over time the two important female figures, the Mother Goddess of Aztec religion and the Virgin Mary, have mended into one.  But I couldn't help but think that if I was an Aztec I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be depicted as such. Religion is very interesting. Hegemony is everywhere. 

We also visited the archaeological museum, which my art teacher explained everything about, and a small town to see Frida Kahlo's house, though I was so exhausted that day that I didn't go in. It was a grueling schedule all weekend. We all went out Friday night so of course I got like three hours of sleep. And the other nights of course we stayed up late too. But no matter what, every single morning I was awake by 7:30 at the latest to catch breakfast and the bus. But all in all I am glad that I went, especially since it was a hard decision for me. I was very awake on Sunday however and got to see the beautiful countryside on the ride back. There are some very beautiful sights here in Mexico.

Since then it's been  back to the grind. I have kind of a hard time sleeping here. I can't seem to fall asleep early, and remember we wake up at 6:30 am every day. Oh well, I am managing. Went out to Wall Street again last night and Jaclyn lost her camera. It was my other roommate's 21st birthday and, of course, she got really sick. She has a little poisoning today, no bueno. 

Today was a GREAT day because I didn't have my first class so I slept in!!! AMAZING!!! Then I went to my second class then on a field trip with my art class. It was an hour ride there but it was so worth it. We saw circular pyramids of another ancient people then walked a couple of miles through the agave plants that are used to make tequila. We ended up in this really cute small town and had authentic nieve, or ice cream. SOOOO GOOD!!! I miss otter pops so much haha. The trip was probably one of the things I have enjoyed most so far.

Tomorrow we are off to Puerto Vallarta! It is going to be ridiculous, I already know, but a very good time. I am loving speaking Spanish here so much, it is amazing how much I have improved in so little time. It is inspiring me to pick it up as my minor again. I don't know, but all I know is one day I really hope to be fluent in Spanish. It will take work, but I can do it. This really makes me want to intern in El Salvador for a summer. I love the language and I am really improving. My family is so nice and they are really fun and interesting to talk to. I am finally really comfortable here, actually. It's home, for now.

Wish me luck in Puerto!!!

First real day of school today. Had my classes, Art History and The Problem of God. Art History will be fun, but the next three weeks will be quite difficult with the crap class Problem of God on my hands. The teacher is an insane nazi german woman. I actually really enjoy the spice she brings, but the essays she is making us do and the style she is making us right in is stupid. Oh well, it's only three weeks, then the next three weeks I can kick back a little. Work out at school after my first class. 

Last night Jaclyn and I went to Chili's at the mall to watch the Lakers game. EVERYONE was supposed to go there, but unfortunately they weren't even showing the game! They must have had at least fifty USD kids show up looking for the game. So we wandered around for a couple of hours, got some really tart ice cream, chilled with some guys. Then we took a cab back home and stopped into this hamburger place right down our street... and the game was on! So we got to see the end, and also have the best hamburgers of our life. SO GOOD. But along with good food apparently comes a really bad stomach ache because I am some sort of sick today. It's okay. I already went to the health center and got free meds, I just have to record what I'm eating and feeling, and, uh, expelling hahahha. 

Tomorrow is Jaclyn's 20th bday so we are going to go out tonight and celebrate, and probably tomorrow too. Tonight we might go bowling haha and then free martinis at this bar. Me gustan cosas que son gratis! Ok, that is incorrect grammar, but oh well. I think I will go take a nap now because waking up for that bus is really, really, really difficult.

Oh and, I just can't decide whether to go on the Mexico City trip or not! I don't want to give up Puerto Vallarta or Guanajuato, but I know Mexico City is the most culturally valuable. You know... it's the capital... second largest city in the world... bla bla bla haha. But honestly, it's a crazy busy weekend and I would rather stay home, spend time with teh family, and explore Guadalajara by myself. Do the things I want to do, since I can't during the week. YO NO SE!!!

GUAD!!!

I am just finishing up a delicious ice cream from the handmade ice cream shop around the corner. I am sitting in my room at my house in Guadalajara. We are in the Jalisco district in a rich neighborhood. My house is a freakin pent house. It's huge and really pretty. Our mama is named Toni. She is so so sweet and welcoming! Really a great woman. So far I've met almost all of her family, a few of which live here, including her husband, mother who is 87, and two son. Grandma is so feisty. She proudly told us that she was 87, and she shushed me when I tried to tie the shows of the resident two year old, Marietta. Her mom is Angelica, Toni's daughter. Angelica also has a 7 year old son named Pablo. The kids are cute, I hope to see them often. It is hard to tell who actually lives here and who doesn't, since they are in and out all of the time.

My first couple of days have been pretty exciting. Jaclyn and I got to our house and picked our room first, and there's some pretty sweet guns and knives and crossbows on the walls. The house is so eclectic, there are knick knacks everywhere. Definitely combination of old people/70s/Latin style. There is a bathtub that can fit four people. You know we're gonna all try it out at once! Mama gave us our house rules, don't come in after 3, no boys in the bedroom, let us know if you'll be missing a meal or coming home late, y mi casa es su casa. Pretty simple.  Apparently a girl last year snuck boys in, NO BUENO!!!!

This morning was our first day of school. We woke up around 7:15 from the loud ringing bells from the church down the street. Sleeping was interesting. The bed is ROCK HARD and it is sweltering hot at night. Also our fan creaks nonstop. But then Jaclyn fixed it this morning. Oh well I have to wake up around 7 every morning anyways. We went out to our bus stop ten minutes early today and guess what.. we STILL missed it. So we had to take a mad taxi ride to school. After that we had orientation and I went to classes and made new friends and explored ITESO, my school. It's really pretty, I'll write more about it later.

After, we took the bus home, and we were SWELTERING HOT. It is an hour ride home and an hour ride there. FIRST AND LAST. Sucks so much. It's ok because I guess that gives me more time to study on the way there and/or sleep.

We just got home from our first night of clubbing! So so so fun. We got a free ride there and a free ride back, both from locals! And now I think we've made local friends so they can take us out. SWEET!!!!

Okay, buenas noches!